A military spouse's take on blooming where you are planted. I continue to pretend I am living on my dream farm while in reality, I live on a military base, gardening in a plot alongside a Navy flightline, with half of my homesteading supplies perpetually packed in boxes and have a habit of being overly involved in every community we live in. I'm a busy mom to 2 boys and a spouse to a Navy sailor soon nearing retirement. I love this chaotic life wouldn't trade it for anything!

right now

Jan 29, 2011

a great mail day!

They're HERE!

This all came in the mail in one day! And no bills, I might add... :)

This is everything ordered this year. Truth be told, I didn't even "need" anything besides peas and bean seeds, but of course I'm always on the search for new varieties, and I order Brandywine every year, that's my one tomato I can't live without.

More bonus - the surprise for hubby! Hubby makes fantastic bubbly thin crispy pizzas already, but thanks to Jane's post over at Hard Work Homestead, I just HAD to let him try this pizza flour! He'll be very excited to be working with some pro supplies. I also ordered some mozzarella curd so we can have some family fun making mozzarella. We can't source unpasteurized milk here, so making it from the curd is the next best thing. I feel a project for the kids post coming on here...

With the kids in school yesterday and hubby gone with a friend biking, what's a newbie quilter girl to do? Find the nearest quilt shop and check it out! The guy in there was fantastic, talked to me for about an hour, gave me advice on machines (and they don't even sell them!) and technique, fabrics, local repair shop reputations, wow - I'll definitely be doing business with them. So anyone in the Virginia Beach area that is feeling a bit intimidated and shy by being new to the craft and going into a "real" shop, don't be... go see Jerry, he's great and will make you feel like a pro when you leave :)

No, the 4 of us didn't eat this ALL - we ate mostly veggies as the meat was destined for the soup I'm making today for the freezer.

We are really hoping to get outside for a bit of cleaning up the ugly winter garden & yard, it's supposed to be 48-50º today, but as of 11 am there is still frost on the ground. I'm sure it will warm up a bit about 1-2 pm, but then we'll be fighting that limited winter daylight thing. I'm getting anxious to be out there working and enjoying mild temps as spring is very short here and it heats up unbearably very quickly. We pretty much go from winter to humid, hot summer. The neighbors will think I'm nuts as usual working out there when it's so "cold"... if you ask me 52-62º is about perfect for outdoor work, so I'll jump at any chance we get.

APG, I know! These people around here are crazy for thinking it's cold when it's 48º and NO wind! Looking around Feb 8th for "funds" to be available LOL... now I'm also looking at Husqvarna Viking but the nearest dealer is about 50 miles from me in Williamsburg, BUT the upside is that the dealer is located in downtown Colonial Williamsburg on "craft alley" among a bunch of fiber & fabric shops so when I needed to drop off for service I could "window shop" :) How far is too far? How often do you find you need service?

Well heck, if there is shopping near-by, then how can you go wrong? ;) Says one enabler to the other...

I just took mine in this week. But it was "Operator Error" that caused it. Apparently I needed schoolin' on the right needele for the right job...hehehee I only have to go about 10 miles. Which truly, is very nice. Don't forget the classes they might offer too! Fun, fun!! Ok, counting down the days for you!!!

I would like to point out that where you bought the flour are guys my Husband has known for years and have their business right down the street from where my Husbands business is. Talk about 6 degrees of seperation. Even for pizza supplies!

Oooh, what a great mail day indeed! It's like Christmas! Oooh, I can't wait to read about your mozzarella making adventure. My neighbor makes his own mozzarella and I've been bugging him about teaching me. I look forward to seeing how yours turns out. PS, your hubby is going to love that new pizza flour I'm sure! Do you use a pizza stone to bake it on?

Well, you know our situation here . . . my sewing machine service store is about 120 miles away so 50 miles for you sounds like an easy stroll! Bottom line, go for the machine you really want. If you don't (because of distance from store), you'll always wonder if you made the right decision. Other than for cleaning and oiling, I've only had to take either of my machines in for repair two times in the past 12-13 years. And, um, both times were for "operator error" I'm slightly ashamed to admit. APG, should we start a support group?

Now about that pizza with the homemade mozzarella and Jane's special flour . . . ? Just give us a date!

Erin.. this is totally unrelated to this post, but I couldn't figure out how to email you directly. Where do you get your yard long beans from? Yours looked so good that I wanted to try them this year,but can't find any!I have 3 seed catalogs and they don't have them! Do they go by a different name other than "yard long" and are there different varieties of very "long" beans?Thanks.......

Oh, seed arrival. What fun!! I was really surprised that I already got a shipping notice on one of my orders- and I just ordered on Thursday. Woot! We're excited here that it is above freezing today. There is- get this- actual liquid water outside. Ooooo.....Judy

Kaytee, we will dip back down for the next few weeks, but one nice day is enough for me to hold out again :)

Robin, 2 years ago I went "mad" with the seeds, that's why I don't need much this year, also I gardened for food "minus the hubby" last year so we didn't grow as much - this year he's here to eat!

Jane, that's good to know. I try to buy locally, but in lieu of that I support friends or the great state of Minnesota where I'm from LOL... our homebrewing store here is LAME so I get all my stuff sent from back home in MN, at least I'm supporing my hometown's economy! BTW, love the speed that the flour got here!

meems, the cheese should be fun! I wonder if any will make it onto the pizza? LOL Yes, he uses a pizza stone, it's all gross and has cornmeal build up all over it but he won't let me clean it hahaha!

Mama Pea, I was thinking the same thing - I research every little thing to death and since I dwell on stuff I might wonder if I made the right decision! I am ruled by budget as well though, so when I get an email back from the dealer with prices, etc my decision might be made for me, but can't hurt to find out what's out there, it's a big purchase! And OH! - hubby would just love to host all my blogger family for a pizza night, I think he gets a kick out of an audience when he makes pizza :)

Spiderjohn - I got my first batch from a seed exchange party, someone left them here, but this year I got them from Baker Creek - look for "Chinese Long Beans", "Yard Long Beans", or "Noodle Beans" all are pretty much the same, there's red ones too! I'll be trying both this year on the same trellis thinking they'll be pretty but I'll be drowning in beans!

Judy, all it takes is one nice day to tide you over until seed starting time, then it's spring fever for sure! With your kitchen remodel, you don't want to hurry it up too much!

Sue, it was nice for about 3 hours then the wind kicked up and that darned winter sun disappeared too quickly! Hubby had the burn barrel going so we could warm our hands towards the end, it's already back down into the upper 30's, 3 hours is better than none! And I am jealous of YOU - snowmobiling, love it!

What a great gift for your hubby/pizza maker! And making homemade mozzarella sounds like so much fun. I'm always fascinated to see it done on the TV. Sourcing unpasteurized milk can be difficult here as well...another example of government telling us what we can put into our mouths! I'm sure more people die each year of eating fast food than unpasteurized milk.

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WHAT'S MY STORY?

Welcome! I'm a native Minnesota girl, Mom, Navy Veteran as well as a Navy spouse for the past 15 years. I am also a Certified Master Gardener that got the rug pulled out from under me 2 years ago... we transferred from a Virginia home with a huge garden into government quarters with a concrete back yard at our current duty station. Even when I can't garden, I'm dreaming of it. When I'm not getting dirty in the garden, I quilt, organize things, make lists, make more lists, go sailing and volunteer with the high school sailing team my kids are on. Only a couple more years until military retirement, we need a plan!

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Why the blog name?

Military life likes to throw wrenches into plans. Too many years of thinking "I'll start a garden someday"… someday with a bigger house, a nicer yard, climate, etc, etc - I just decided to DO IT and and worry about the logistics later! We are living the oxymoron of homesteading for the mobile military family and pulling it off the best we can. Follow our adventures as we carry our homestead wherever we go!